Chelsea’s transfer business may get a significant boost if the club succeeds in hiring AS Roma’s recently-departed director of sport Walter Sabatini.
Walter Sabatini abruptly resigned from AS Roma last week amidst mutual discontent with the club’s president. Sabatini originally intended to see out his contract to the end of this season, but apparently reached a breaking point only three months into the campaign.
Corriere dello Sport reports that Antonio Conte is seizing on the opportunity to bring Sabatini to Chelsea. Conte looks to his countryman to execute his transfer wishes and, importantly, overhaul Chelsea’s way of doing business.
The most tantalizing aspect of this rumour is what it may mean for Michael Emenalo’s continued influence – and employment – at Chelsea. Antonio Conte clearly recognizes the short-comings of Chelsea’s transfer non-strategy. Conte is reaching out for someone he knows, trusts and respects – just as he would for a player or assistant coach. This speaks volumes about what he thinks of the current technical director.
Related Story: Michael Emenalo and me: My day with Chelsea's technical director
Sabatini made Roma into an incubator of young talent. He often brought in anonymous young players and then sold them on at a great profit. Erik Lamela, Marquinhos and Mehdi Benatia all brought a hefty return to the club.
Sabatini did more than create a youth assembly line at Roma. He developed young players into Roma regulars, including Chelsea transfer target Radja Nainggolan. Sabatini also orchestrated Roma’s rebuilding through experienced players like Edin Dzeko, Kostas Manolas and ex-Blue Mohamed Salah.
Despite AS Roma’s financial success and footballing turnaround, Sabatini and Roma’s stakeholders never shared a common vision. Sabatini felt club management pressured him to churn out youth prospects solely for financial gain, without sufficient concern for the club’s long-term football needs. Management thought Sabatini was too concerned with finding the next great unknown prospect, to the detriment of building the team in front of him.
Chelsea have similar fault lines running through their transfer and development policies. Underlying these tensions has been the lack of a functioning relationship between Michael Emenalo and the club’s succession of managers.
Chelsea’s technical director conducted business with little input or vision from the manager. The manager then took the blame – and the sack – when he was unable to deliver immediate results from a team he had no role in building.
If Antonio Conte insists on bringing more Serie A players to Chelsea he is going to need an experienced hand to negotiate those transfers. Walter Sabatini understands the culture, mentality and business practices of Serie A clubs. He knows how to conclude deals with them because he once was one of them.
Sabatini may be the one of the few people stubborn or spiteful enough to do business with Aurelio de Laurentiis. Italian clubs will respect him enough to do business with him, while they openly flout Chelsea and Michael Emenalo. Sabatini defeated Chelsea’s attempts to sign Radja Nainggolan over the summer. This makes Sabatini a winner in Conte’s eyes and those of other Serie A clubs.
Next: Four lessons learnt from Chelsea's dominant win over Leicester
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich greatly enjoyed watching his club dismantle the reigning champions on Saturday. Antonio Conte delivered the win via the beautiful, rampant football that Abramovich loves best. If ever Conte wanted to test his influence over the owner, now is the perfect time.